I dislike cpanrantings for the simple reason that there is no author's right of reply, or place to add comments. I don't find the reviews that useful. The module reviews here on Perlmonks are much better, as they are threads in their own right.

I've had one of my own modules slated, but I have no way of forc^Wpersuading the reviewer to retract his comments. I have posted a review of my own as the author, and have voted the original review as "not useful".

When looking for a module, I would never use the search facility on cpanratings.org, but use http://search.cpan.org, read through the pod to form an impression of whether I like the module. I'd also check the release history, CPAN testers, and RT, linked from the CPAN module page to see the status of any bugs.

If I needed a second opinion I would try google and Perlmonks super search to find out what others think of the module; possibly ask on IRC if I was at home. If I've drawn a blank, I might even post a question to seekers of Perl wisdom.